Prioritizing Sites for Wetland Restoration, Mitigation, and Preservation in Maryland. May 18, 2006 - Maryland Department of the Environment WASHINGTON COUNTY ...................................... 2 Background..................................................................................................................... 4 Streams............................................................................................................................ 5 Wetlands ......................................................................................................................... 6 Sensitive Resources ...................................................................................................... 13 Other Relevant Programs.............................................................................................. 13 Watershed Information ................................................................................................. 15 Potomac River – Monocacy to Shenandoah River (02140301)................................ 15 Potomac River (02140501) Shenandoah River to Hancock ..................................... 18 Antietam Creek (02140502) ..................................................................................... 22 Marsh Run (02140503)............................................................................................. 28 Conococheague Creek (02140504)........................................................................... 30 Little Conococheague Creek (02140505) ................................................................. 33 Licking Creek (02140506)........................................................................................ 34 Tonoloway Creek (02140507) .................................................................................. 36 Potomac River (02140508) Hancock to North Branch............................................. 37 Little Tonoloway Creek (02140509) ........................................................................ 40 Sideling Hill Creek (02140510)................................................................................ 41 1 Prioritizing Sites for Wetland Restoration, Mitigation, and Preservation in Maryland. May 18, 2006 - Maryland Department of the Environment WASHINGTON COUNTY Basin Summary Team and Chesapeake Bay Program. 2004. Maryland Upper Potomac River. Tidal Monitoring and Analysis Workgroup. Becker and O’Melia, LLC and Straughan Environmental Services, Inc. 2002. Potomac River Source Water Assessment for Maryland Plants. Washington County Water and Sewer Department Sharpsburg Water Treatment Plant. Boward, D. MBSS data results for 1995-1997, 2000-2001. Received 2003. Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). 26.08.02.08. Stream Segment Designations. Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR). 26.23.06.01. Areas Designated as Nontidal Wetlands of Special State Concern. Maryland Clean Action Plan: Final. 1998. Report on Unified Watershed Assessments, Watershed Prioritization, and Plans for Restoration Action Strategies. Maryland Department of Agriculture. 2003. Maryland’s Nonpoint Source Program FFY2004 Section 319(h) Proposal: Antietam Creek Targeted Watershed Project. Maryland Department of the Environment. 2001. Total Maximum Daily Loads of Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand (CBOD) and Nitrogenous Biochemical Oxygen Demand (NBOD) for Antietam Creek Washington County, MD. Baltimore, MD. Maryland Department of the Environment. 2002a. Maryland’s State Wetland Conservation Plan. Baltimore, MD. Maryland Department of the Environment. 2002b. Total Maximum Daily Loads of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) for Conococheague Creek. Baltimore, MD. Maryland Department of the Environment. 2003a. GIS Discharge Data Maryland Department of the Environment. 2003b. GIS Water Source Data Maryland Department of the Environment. 2004. 2004 List of Impaired Surface Waters [303(d)List] and Integrated Assessment of Water Quality in Maryland. Baltimore, MD. Maryland Department of the Environment. 2005. Draft. Water Quality Analysis of Eutrophication for Greenbrier Lake, Washington County, Maryland. Baltimore, MD. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 1998. Greenbrier State Park: Trail Management Plan. 2 Prioritizing Sites for Wetland Restoration, Mitigation, and Preservation in Maryland. May 18, 2006 - Maryland Department of the Environment Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2000 Maryland Section 305(b) Water Quality Report. Annapolis, MD. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2000-2003. GIS Green Infrastructure data. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2002. Fort Frederick State Park. Annapolis, MD. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2002 Maryland Section 305(b) Water Quality Report. Annapolis, MD. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2003. Nontidal Wetlands of Special State Concern of Five Central Maryland Counties and Coastal Bay Area of Worcester County, Maryland. Natural Heritage Program. Annapolis, MD. Prepared for: Maryland Department of the Environment. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2003. Rural Legacy FY 2003: Applications and State Agency Review. Annapolis, MD. Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2004. Maryland Circumneutral Seepage Wetlands. Natural Heritage Program. Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Upper Potomac River Tributary Strategy Team. 2003. Upper Potomac Basin Overview. Maryland Department of Planning. 2002. GIS land use data. Maryland Geological Survey. 2003. Foundation Engineering Problems and Hazards in Karst Terranes. Baltimore, MD. http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/fs/fs11.html Maryland Greenways Commission. 2000. Maryland Atlas of Greenways, Water Trails and Green Infrastructure. Maryland Department of Natural Resources Millard, C.J., Kazyak, P.F., and A.P. Prochaska. 2001. Washington County: Results of the 1994-1997 Maryland Biological Stream Survey: County-Level Assessments. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Resource Assessment Service. Mitsch, W.J., and J.G. Gosselink (eds). 2000. Wetlands 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 920 pp. Peterson, B.J., Wolfheim, W.M., Mulholland, P.J., Webster, J.R., Meyer, J.L., Tank, J.L., Marti, E., Bowden, W.B., Valett, H.M., Hershey, A.E., McDowell, W.H., Dodds, W.K., Hamilton, S.K., Gregory, S., and D.D. Morrall. 2001. Control of Nitrogen Export from Watersheds by Headwater Streams. Science Vol. 292, pp. 96-90. 3 Prioritizing Sites for Wetland Restoration, Mitigation, and Preservation in Maryland. May 18, 2006 - Maryland Department of the Environment Tiner, R. W. and D. G. Burke. 1995. Wetlands of Maryland. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Services, Region 5, Hadley, MA and Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD. Cooperative publication. U.S. Census Bureau. 2003. State and County QuickFacts. http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/ U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2001. Soil Survey of Washington County, Maryland. Walbeck, D. 2005. Regulated wetland impact data for the period between 1991 and 2004. Maryland Department of the Environment. Wetlands and Waterways Program. Baltimore, MD. Washington County. 2002. Washington County Comprehensive Plan. Washington County. 2003. Draft Land Preservation and Recreation Plan Washington County, Maryland. Washington County Planning Department. Washington Soil Conservation District. 2002. Washington County Soil Conservation District Business Plan 2002-2007. Weber, T. 2003. Maryland’s Green Infrastructure Assessment. Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Watershed Services Unit. Annapolis, MD. Western Maryland Rail Trail Citizens Advisory Committee and Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 1993. The Western Maryland Rail Trail Study and Master Plan. Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Sideling Hill Creek Watershed: A Profile of Watershed Health. Background Washington County is 298,851 acres and has over 100 miles of Potomac shoreline (Washington County, 2002). This County shares a border with Pennsylvania to the north, and Virginia and West Virginia to the south. Neighboring Maryland Counties are Frederick to the east and Allegany County to the west. The eastern part of the County, along South Mountain, lies in the Blue Ridge Province. The middle area is in the Great Valley (or Hagerstown Valley). The western part, from Clear Spring to Allegany County, is in the Ridge and Valley Province. Slopes of >15% cover roughly a third of the land. The majority of the Hagerstown Valley is gently rolling hills. Roughly half of the land is agriculture (48% in 1997) (Washington County, 2002). Agriculture is mainly in the Hagerstown Valley, from South Mountain to Clear Spring. This area is also dominated by soils considered to be prime farmland (USDA, 2001). In order to preserve agriculture in the County, wetland 4 Prioritizing Sites for Wetland Restoration, Mitigation, and Preservation in Maryland. May 18, 2006 - Maryland Department of the Environment restoration/creation should attempt to avoid areas classified as prime farmland. Additional areas along some of the waterways are classified as “prime farmland when drained” (based on NRCS SSURGO GIS data). While it may not be desirable to exclude all soils classified as “prime farmland when drained” from consideration, these additional areas should be lower priority for wetland restoration/creation than soils not classified as prime farmland. Forest comprises over a third of the land and is mainly focused in the steeper areas, west of Clear Spring and on South Mountain. There are eight quarries,